Once again, I was asked to think about using a roll of stock that was
stored in a production companies freezer...It's a fairly new vision stock,
but still I would love to find out when it was made. In the past, we have
contacted Kodak to check out dates using the emulsion numbers, but this
is a rather slow and usually unsuccessful attempt to determine age.

Wouldn't it be great if Kodak would offer a page on their website that
one could access that would allow you to type in the emulsion number and
check the actual production date!

This way, you could type in a series of numbers and be able to explore
this without having to bother a Kodak employee and eat up long distance
phone charges...

>I was asked to think about using
a roll of stock that was stored in a >production companies
freezer...It's a fairly new vision stock, but…

Funny this should come up.

Just a few days ago I transferred some frozen stock I shot last year.
Last year I pulled this mystery roll of film out of the deep freeze. After
contacting John Pytlak and getting some emulsion #'s (thanks John), it
turns out it was almost 15yrs old. And, as far as I can remember, it has
been in a near ice block state - even thawed and refroze again when my
fridge broke.

The stock was 7245. Before shooting with it, I shot a quick test and decided
to rate it at 32ASA. The transfer looked absolutely stunning! The colourist
and I were shocked at the fine detail and contrast. This was also the
first time I shot with brand new Nikon SLR lenses( on an ACL), so this
also had a lot to do with the image sharpness.

Now I never give up on stock (prior to my iceman experiment, I wasted
2 full 400ft rolls of the same stuff in a AC workshop. Mind you this is
for telecine only, but heh, try freezing a videotape for 15 years...and
so it goes.

Dave Luxton
Cinematographer
Edmonton, AB.

Jeff Barklage wrote:

>Wouldn't it be great if Kodak
would offer a page on their website [.......] to >type in the
emulsion number and check the actual production date!

Like the Budweiser, 'Born on Date'. Great idea for presents
in the camera department as well - a roll of stock that shares
your birthday

Tom Townend
Cinematographer/London.

Tom Townend wrote:

>Great idea for presents in the
camera department as well

Actually, you should be able to register with Kodak (or Fuji) and get
a complimentary case of your favourite emulsion each birthday...

Right, Kodak?

Jeff Kreines

Hi,

Wouldn't it be easier if they just printed the date of manufacture on
the can? I mean, smack palm into forehead and say "duh.."

Phil Rhodes
Video camera/edit
London

>Actually, you should be able
to register with Kodak (or Fuji) and get a >complimentary case
of your favourite emulsion each birthday...

Good news is that Kodak is embracing this idea and will cheerfully provide
your favourite emulsion for your birthday.

Bad news is that you will have to coat the base yourself.

Mark Weingartner
LA for a week

>Bad news is that you will have
to coat the base yourself

Oh cool! On my next birthday, I'm going to make the best avant-garde movie
ever.

But in all seriousness, has anyone ever tried coating clear leader with
Liquid Light photo emulsion? I fear it might come off in the gate, and
it would probably have a painfully slow ASA rating, but it might look
pretty darn cool.

Frazer Bradshaw
Director of Photography
San Francisco

Phil Rhodes writes :

>Wouldn't it be easier if they
just printed the date of manufacture on the >can?

Duh.

It took over 2,000 years for banks to realize that a single waiting line
for all windows was the fairest way to treat its customers. (Supermarkets
still haven't caught on.) It took film manufacturers 50+ years to realize
that the nominal exposure index of a particular stills film should be
part of its name and be prominently emblazoned on the box.

The moral of the story: don't hold your breath waiting for high-inertia
organizations to adopt commonsense practices that serve their customers,
even if it costs them virtually nothing. I haven't shot professional stills
film in a while (i.e, Ektachrome Professional) so I don't know whether
it bears an expiration date the way consumer film does.

But I believe nominal expiration dates have been stamped on virtually
all stills film since "time immemorial." The least the mfgrs
could do for professional cine stocks is to provide a date of manufacture,
with no warranties implied.

Dan "duh" Drasin
Producer/DP
Marin County, CA

Phil Rhodes writes:

>Wouldn't it be easier if they
just printed the date of manufacture on the >can?

When you buy milk from the supermarket, do you check the use-by date?
And if there's a choice, don't you take the newest, even if you plan to
drink the milk well before the older ones would expire?

Seems to me that if Kodak provided manufacturing dates freely, they'd
get stuck with all stock that wasn't the latest batch because we/you would
reject it sight unseen. What's that going to do for prices and availability?

Dominic Case
Atlab Australia

Dominic writes :

>Seems to me that if Kodak provided
manufacturing dates freely, they'd >get stuck with all
stock that wasn't the latest

Whereas this is a nice argument, the reality of us who are fighting in
the trenches need to be damn sure our ammo is reliable!

When a producer has no forethought to order extra film, and we need another
3,000' extra feet of stock to make it through the day, the DP needs to
be sure the stock pulled from the freezer will work or not. I know that
the older the stock, the more chance it may have been mis-handled by someone
[left in the trunk of the Jag while the producer played 18 holes], but
the gravity of an emergency situation weighs very heavy with the possibility
of extreme aged stock.

Thus, a database, not a printed on system, may be a more palatable situation
for Kodak than a very apparent printed-on system...a PA with a laptop
can find the needed info on set when needed....

Cheers,
Jeff Barklage, s.o.c.
US based DP

Dominic Case writes :

>Seems to me that if Kodak provided
manufacturing dates freely,

Why, then, isn't this an issue with pro stills film, which is more date-sensitive
than the consumer version? (Has to do with the timing of the "ripening"
of the emulsion batch.)

Dan Drasin
Producer/DP
Marin County, CA

Sam Wells wrote:

>I know pro still shooters who
are what you might term *anal* about >emulsion batches
and will actually 1/4 stop bracket test various.

Yes, but they're usually shooting reversal -- where there's no real latitude.

> Matching #'s seems less a priority
on our side of the fence than it used >to.

Because cine stocks have a lot more latitude and process-tolerance than
they used to...

Jeff Kreines

>Why, then, isn't this an issue
with pro stills film, which is more date->sensitive than the
consumer version?

I know pro still shooters who are what you might term *anal* about emulsion
batches and will actually 1/4 stop bracket test various.

Matching #'s seems less a priority on our side of the fence than it used
to.

Sam "reality itself doesn't seem to match if you look closely"
Wells

I have seen 100' daylight Eyemo boxes with date stamped on them (1979!)
So was it only done before, and then Kodak decided not to keep putting
dates on them? Was it only on 100' daylight spools?